I still have a lot to say: Pradeep KP on Gauri Lankesh

Agencies
February 28, 2018

Bengaluru, Feb 28: She may have been a fierce activist-journalist for many but Gauri Lankesh was a dear friend for film-maker Pradeep KP, who has made a documentary on the slain editor.

Pradeep said he was left numb when he received the news of Lankesh's murder on the night of September 5 but he did not want to make a documentary. He changed his mind when he saw people come out in her support.

"I didn't want to do it. My crew had started shooting when they reached Gauri's home after the news broke out. The next day when I entered the social media space, I saw this hatred for her from people who didn't even know her.

"But when I saw, scores of people coming forward in protests for Gauri, I thought I should make the film," he said while addressing a full-house screening of "Our Gauri" at the 10th BIFFES last evening.

The film, which begins with people protesting against the killing and is then interspersed with interviews of people close to Lankesh both personally and professionally, was showcased under the 'Resistance' section along with five other presentations. The director said the team dug out shots from a footage of 700 hours and shot for 22 days, non-stop.

"Whatever she stood for, the voice, got stronger after her death," he said.

Pradeep, who was Lankesh's friend for over 16 years and was a part of her campaigns and travels, believes there is still a lot that is left unsaid and he hopes to make a bigger film eventually.

"I still have a lot to say and there was a need to slow down the pace of the film at some places. At that time, I had to bring this out. In two years time, I'll do a larger film on her entire travels over the years in Karnataka. There is so much footage that I haven't even used in this documentary. But I need time for that," he said

Pradeep also said that Gauri Lankesh Patrike is going to continue as people trust the newspaper's voice.

"We are thinking of March 8 as the launch date. We still haven't got the final confirmation on the title.

"It will definitely come out before Karnataka Assembly elections as the paper played a major role in the state politics. We can't stop that legacy. There's a trust that's been formed."

Other documentaries shown in the section were "Qandeel", on Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch who was strangulated to death by her brother for 'bringing dishonour' to the family and Indian film, "I am Bonnie" on an ace footballer Bonnie Paul, formerly known as Bandana Paul and his struggle to live with dignity in the society.

As an experiment, short fiction and silent films were also shown, which included "Mr Fazili's wife" by Hassan Fazili and "Screaming Silence" by Fatima Hussaini from Afghanistan.

Fazili could not be at the festival as he fled Afghanistan in 2016 to Serbia after the Taliban threatened him with death over one of his movies. Both the films were represented by filmmaker Hassan Moosavi.

Comments

Prabhakar Bhatt
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2018

Is this an election gimmick, this women was shot dead on 5-Sep, almost 6 months, the home Minister of Conning-ress & Sid Ra Miya has announced about 5 months ago that killers are identified, they mislead public by wrongly stating this group & that group has murdered her. Now what is this drama many of us know this womens poorvashrama & her high (flying) life in Delhi, why not some Naxalite deal gone wrong.

Sudeep
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2018

mastermind behind Gauri assasination was Notoriously Brilliant and the method and plan they use is too complex. Strange.. Hope siddu govt can solve this puzzle soon

Danish
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2018

I dont know Gauri mam directly. Even that also I have lot to say about her. Hope her killer will get punishment soon

Mohan
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2018

Gauri was great brave activist. We miss her. 

Ganesh
 - 
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2018

No followup of that alleged assasinator

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com web desk
July 25,2020

Chennai, July 25: A widow living alone in her apartment in Chennai city suburbs has filed a police complaint against ABVP national president Dr Subbiah Shanmugam, accusing him of harassment, including urinating and throwing used surgical masks at her doorstep.

Shockingly, no action has been taken so far by the police, even though the complaint against Dr Shanmugam, who is in government service, was filed on July 11 at the Adambakkam Police Station here by the widow’s relative Balaji Vijayaraghavan. 

Dr Shanmugam and the 62-year-old widow were living in the same apartment complex in Nanganallur and an argument broke between them over a parking slot. “He wanted to use our parking lot. We agreed but demanded a nominal charge for using it. He was outraged by our demand and even broke our signboard at the parking lot,” Vijayaraghavan wrote in his complaint.

He also alleged that Dr Shanmugam began harassing her by throwing “pieces of chicken” outside her apartment despite knowing she is a vegetarian. Vijayaraghavan also alleged in his two-page written complaint that the ABVP National President had urinated outside the woman’s apartment gate and had been throwing garbage and used masks at her gate.

The 62-year-old woman has been living alone in her apartment for the last year following her husband’s death. In his complaint, Vijayaraghavan also said the family was “concerned about her safety”, while asking police to take action against Dr Shanmugam, who he says, “has a bad track record in maintaining rapport with neighbours.”

CCTV footage corroborates with the allegations of urinating outside the residence of the widow. However, the ABVP claimed the incident as a “malicious and derogatory propaganda” by the Congress’ student wing of NSUI.

Also Read: Finally FIR registered against ABVP national president for allegedly harassing widow

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 20,2020

Bengaluru, May 20: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had to confront an unprecedented situation as there was a commotion at bus stands in various parts of the state due to the mad rush of passengers.

Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who is in charge of the transport department, admitted that there were some shortcomings in the arrangements. He, however, was confident that things would improve from Wednesday.

As against the dearth of passengers in the bus stands in Bengaluru a day ago, Wednesday witnessed an overwhelming crowd blaming BMTC authorities for not providing enough buses for all the destinations on time.

Some of the employees who were asked to report to duty before certain time were facing difficulty in reaching the office in the absence of bus despite having daily pass and arriving at the stand well in advance.

Authorities were finding it difficult to convince the public as a bus could ferry only 35 passengers at a time which was way less than the demand.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 11,2020

Thrissur, Feb 11: The latest test result of the woman medical student, who arrived here from China's Wuhan region and was the first positive case from India for the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), has come out negative, health officials said on Monday.

Her condition was "stable", they said.

According to the state health department as of now, 31 people are in isolation wards across various hospitals in the state.

"The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result.

But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune," a senior medical officer told news agency.

After the first positive case was reported from Thrissur, two other Keralite students from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, had tested positive in Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.

The health department had earlier said those in isolation wards of various hospitals in the state have come down to 34.

"A total of 3,367 are under observation across the state, of which 3,336 are under home quarantine," a release issued by the health department said.

The department has already sent at least 364 samples for testing at the NIV at Pune and so far 337 results have returned negative.

The ''state calamity'' alert, which was declared on February 3, was withdrawn on Friday after no new positive cases of infection were detected.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.